‘The Bridge’ writer works on Star disaster TV series

A new series will be made telling the story of the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990.

A new television series has been commissioned to be broadcast across the Nordic region telling the story of the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990.

Produced by both Nordisk Film and Danish Documentary, the six-episode series will involve creative forces such as Nikolaj Scherfig, known for his work writing scripts for the popular crime show The Bridge.

Lars Halskov, a journalist at the Danish daily newspaper Politiken, who wrote the acclaimed book Branden: Gåden om Scandinavian Star (Fire: the Scandinavian Star Mystery), will also work on the series, as will documentary director Mikala Krogh.

The series will tell the story of the accident and subsequent investigations spanning three decades. It will be broadcast by DR, NRK and SVT, the state broadcasters in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, respectively, in 2020 – the thirtieth anniversary of the disaster.

New details
The fire that broke out on the ship killed 159 of the ferry’s 383 passengers and 99 crew as it sailed from Oslo to Frederikshavn. Many were on their way from Norway to Denmark for an Easter break.

Poor safety standards on the ship exacerbated the death toll and there are suspicions the fire was started deliberately. To this day, the case remains unsolved. The producers say the series will shed light on what they call “Scandinavia’s biggest murder mystery”.